Preparations to protect life and property in the Hurricane Warning area should have been completed.

At 8 PM EDT...a Hurricane Warning remains in effect for the Caribbean coasts of Belize...Guatemala...and Honduras from the border with Guatemala eastward to Limon.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the east coast of the Yucatan from felipe carrillo Puerto southward to the border with Belize.

At 8 PM EDT...0000z...the center of Hurricane Iris was located near latitude 16.5 north...longitude 88.0 west or about 75 miles...120 km...southeast of Belize City Belize.

Iris is moving just south of due west near 22 mph...35 km/hr. On the projected track...the center is expected to make landfall on the coast of Belize in the next several hours.

Maximum sustained winds are near 145 mph...235 km/hr...with higher gusts. Some fluctuations in intensity are possible prior to landfall...but Iris is likely to make landfall as a category four hurricane. Higher winds may occur over elevated terrain as Iris moves inland.